New vice-president joins CHNA executive
Posted Jul 29, 2010 By Phil Ambroziak
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EMC News - With new boundaries comes new bodies.
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This picket sign, created by new CHNA vice-president Katherine Steinhoff, indicates her opinion on the development of skyscrapers in her neighbourhood.
The Civic Hospital Neighbourhood Association (CHNA) has not only increased its eastern boundaries as far as Railway St., but it will now also benefit from the contributions of new members, including a new vice-president, Katherine Steinhoff.
Ms. Steinhoff explained that she had been following one particular issue that also attracted the attention of the CHNA and, following her neighbourhood's inclusion in the newly expanded association, she was finally able to make her connection to the group official.
"My interest in getting more involved with the CHNA pretty much coincided with the Mastercraft Starwood proposal to build two hideous, monster towers at 125 Hickory St.," Ms. Steinhoff said. "I live just down the street."
She went on to note that, at the time, the CHNA was holding meetings and collecting views on the proposal for 125 Hickory St., but also noticed that her neighbourhood wasn't represented by a community association.
"With all the development in the area, I thought we needed an association and asked (CHNA president) Amanda Farris if the CHNA would consider extending its boundaries," Ms. Steinhoff continued. "Some of my neighbours asked as well. Thankfully, the CHNA has agreed. As of this month, it's official. We have a community association, and hopefully more of a voice in what happens in our area."
"When things started coming out of that end of town, we began holding public meetings to discuss these issues because of the direct impact they were expected to have on our streets," Ms. Farris said. "The (outside) residents would continually pass information along to us and, come early spring, we decided to look into expanding our boundaries to include the areas where these individuals live."
Ms. Farris went on to note that, at first, she was somewhat apprehensive about expanding the CHNA's boundaries because of the additional workload it would potentially create for her. With the arrival of Ms. Steinhoff, however, this additional work is very much non-existent.
"Katherine said she's willing to step up to the plate and help out," Ms. Farris said. "She's also bringing five 'block captains' with her, who are all willing to jump in and share the load."
Ms. Steinhoff officially joined the CHNA executive June 21 and, even though it's only been a short time, Ms. Farris said the CHNA has already benefited a great deal from Ms. Steinhoff's presence.
"We've already noticed the additional support we've received," she said. "Katherine has written an amazing document commenting on behalf of the CHNA and our feelings toward the development (on) Champagne Ave. We will be taking that document to (Kitchissippi ward) Coun. Christine Leadman for further discussion. We're glad to have Katherine as part of our team and we look forward to achieving more success, to uniting the community and addressing local issues."
DEVELOPMENT
Ms. Steinhoff elaborated further on her outlook of the proposed development at 125 Hiclory St., stating she is not opposed to intensification in her area, but believes there should be limits as to what is appropriate in a residential neighbourhood.
"The 125 Hickory proposal, which is pretty much skyscraper height, is not appropriate," she said. "Frankly, I don't think we'd be facing such a hideous proposal if the city's planning process was working properly. On paper, the city supports community design plans. In reality, it won't even begin its planning process for my area until November. I'm hoping the city will spend some time working with the CHNA to dramatically modify the 125 Hickory St. proposal and help us undo some of the problems that are created when development speeds ahead of planning."
In the aforementioned document Ms. Steinhoff prepared regarding the proposed development on Champagne Ave. (which could see Domicile Urban Developmens Inc. develop a 12-storey high-rise apartment dwelling fronting onto Champagne Ave. South and a three-storey townhouse dwelling fronting directly onto Hickory St.), the new vice-president explained the proposed development would add more than 1,240 vehicles to local streets.
"Most of these vehicles are likely to arrive and leave during peak traffic hours," she wrote. "This increase in traffic would undoubtedly and negatively impact the livability of our streets. We wholeheartedly agree with the late Donald Appleyard. Appleyard, who was a professor of urban design, believed that social street activities are greatly reduced and feelings of wellbeing in neighbourhoods are threatened when traffic volumes increase beyond what is considered normal by local residents. The CHNA would like to work with the City of Ottawa to preserve the livability of our streets by maintaining current traffic patterns to the extent possible."
As for the continued role she will play as CHNA vice-president, Ms. Steinhoff who worked for a union for many years said she has fairly solid organizing, communications and lobbying skills.
"But, I have a lot to learn about being effective at the community level and will be relying heavily on the collective wisdom of the CHNA," she said.
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